Description
Given that “verse” comes from the Latin for “turn,” the pivot at the end of the line is, on the most basic level, what makes a poem a poem. Using various models, both classic and contemporary, this playful, generative workshop will delve into the architecture of poems, from the possibilities opened by techniques as basic as enjambment, to elements of reversal and surprise in content and point of view, where poems turn on a dime and open up a whole new vista. Our goal will be to move beyond the words, so to speak, and learn to read into the technical aspects, the “invisible” machinery that delivers the wonder.
About Michael Bazzett
Michael Bazzett is the author of four books of poetry, including The Echo Chamber (Milkweed Editions, 2021), and the chapbook The Temple (Bull City, 2020). Recent work has appeared in Granta, Agni, The American Poetry Review, The Sun, The Nation, and The Paris Review. His verse translation of the Mayan creation epic, The Popol Vuh, (Milkweed, 2018) was named one of 2018’s best books of poetry by the NY Times, and his translation of the selected poems of Humberto Ak’abal, If Today Were Tomorrow, is forthcoming from Milkweed next year. The recipient of an NEA Fellowship, he lives in Minneapolis.
michaelbazzett.com | 
